Member of the Month

Lourdes Mantecón-Garza

Meet Lourdes Mantecón-Garza, the ACS Member of the Month!

Lourdes Mantecón-Garza,Bio: Human differences arise from all aspects of life. Those differences shape every person and come from either innate or acquired factors like socio-economic status, race, ethnicity, nationality, language, religion, anatomical sex, sexual identity, social gender, sexual orientation, capabilities, disabilities, age and others that may be influenced by sociopolitical events, war, or time.
I was shaped by my own differences: born female and raised in a traditional Mexican family, my future was predestined; I was not meant to reach a higher education. My parents were both full time workers providing for a family of eleven. I was fortunate that the scarce money covered for a home, clothes and enough food. Back then, educational opportunities for women were very few. I knew I was different and was eager to learn. Being a woman, I had to fight for my rights to an education. After obtaining the reluctant approval of my father, I submitted my application to the University of Nuevo Leon, in Monterrey, Mexico. By 1985, I was the only female in the Internal Medicine residency program at the Metropolitan Hospital SSA in Monterrey, Mexico. Upon graduation in 1988, for several years I was the only female in the city privately practicing internal medicine. Noticing the increasing trend of obesity and diabetes among my patient population and after years of research and study I decided to write a book, about diet and diabetes (“La Dieta y el Diabético”, Trillas editorial) that was published in 1996. I have been married for more than 35 years and am blessed with three daughters and grandchildren.
My family and I moved to the United States 20 years ago looking for better economic conditions. I went back to school at UT-Pan American to get a MBA (class of 2005) and founded Medical Administrative Solutions, a company that provides clinical documentation education for clinicians and coders, as well as billing services for health care facilities. But human sexuality/sexual medicine was always of interest making me an avid lector, eclectic thinker, and researcher, who was always learning, inquiring, and educating. By 2011, I published a second book “Healthy Sexuality” in both English and Spanish. I was accepted into the Institute of Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, based in California, as a PhD candidate in human sexuality. In addition, I am certified as a Clinical Sexologist by the American College of Sexologists and I am a member of the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health (ISSWSH), actively participating in the Membership Outreach Committee. Currently, I am also pursuing certification by the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) as well as training for certification as a Gender Reconciliation Facilitator by the Gender Equity and Reconciliation International organization.
I recently had a proposal accepted by the International Society for Sexual Medicine (ISSM) of my “Model of Integration of Human Sexuality” to be presented at the 2018 World Meeting on Sexual Medicine February 28- March 3, Lisbon Portugal. The document is going to be published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

What I do:The Hispanic population of the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas culturally behaves under both Mexican and American influences. Public schools are unable to provide minimal sexual education resulting in, among other things, persistent incidence of teen unwanted pregnancies along with social rejection, poverty, lack of higher education, endemic STD’s, etcetera. It can be equal to any other community of our country, but the Mexican heritage and Christianity define the social constrains in which the population moves. It is my professional philosophy that sexual education and community outreach is the most important step in building tolerance and acceptance. My goal as an educator is to reach a variety of people, including other physicians, and guide their understanding of sex and sexuality. I am a lecturer for the general public and institutions. I reach people in the community through radio shows, television programs, social media networks, and written work.
Educating an entire population is never an easy task, and the burden is even more difficult when the topic is sexuality. However, I have been able to elude self-imposed or government censorship by those broadcasting media. Once a week, I collaborate in the TV program “Acceso Total del Valle” (Telemundo 40) with a segment on healthy sexuality. Every Tuesday I broadcast live on my Facebook page discussing different topics of human sexuality. I provide counseling on issues of sexuality and relationships for individuals and couples. I also provide sex education for children and adolescents. I offer this service online and at my office located in McAllen Texas.